install <file1 file2 | file1 ... fileN directory | directory ...>
The file(s) are copied to the target file or directory. If the destination is a directory, then the file is copied into directory with its original filename. If the target file already exists, it is either renamed to file.old if the -b option is given or overwritten if permissions allow. An alternate backup suffix may be specified via the -B option's argument
Arguments
| Name | Description |
|---|
file1 file2 | file1 ... fileN directory | directory ... | File(s) or directory(ies) installation directive |
Options
| Name | Description |
|---|
-B <suffix> | Use suffix as the backup suffix if -b is given |
-b | Back up any existing files before overwriting them by renaming them to file.old. See -B for specifying a different backup suffix |
-C | Copy the file. If the target file already exists and the files are the same, then don't change the modification time of the target |
-c | Copy the file. This is actually the default. The -c option is only included for backwards compatibility |
-d | Create directories. Missing parent directories are created as required |
-f | Specify the target's file flags; see chflags(1) for a list of possible flags and their meanings |
-g | Specify a group. A numeric GID is allowed |
-M | Disable all use of mmap(2) |
-m | Specify an alternate mode. The default mode is set to rwxr-xr-x (0755). The specified mode may be either an octal or symbolic value; see chmod(1) for a description of possible mode values |
-o | Specify an owner. A numeric UID is allowed |
-p | Preserve the modification time. Copy the file, as if the -C (compare and copy) option is specified, except if the target file doesn't already exist or is different, then preserve the modification time of the file |
-S | Safe copy. Normally, install unlinks an existing target before installing the new file. With the -S flag a temporary file is used and then renamed to be the target. The reason this is safer is that if the copy or rename fails, the existing target is left untouched |
-s | Exec's the command strip(1) to strip binaries so that install can be portable over a large number of systems and binary types |
-v | Causes install to show when -C actually installs something |